I Think I Love You
by ArtemisNakajima
Summary: Levi ends up on a mission where the group gets ambushed by titans.


Levi gripped the reigns tightly, biting his bottom lip harshly. The horse below him grunted loudly, its powerful muscles beating against his inner thighs as Levi led it farther into the sprawling forest.

"LEVI! EREN! FOLLOW ME!" Erwin shouted from a distance, dragging Levi's attention away from simply surviving the four Aberrant titans following him and towards regrouping with command.

"YES SIR!" Levi returned, tensing his legs on the horse and tugging back on the reigns, leaning towards the right as the horse changed direction below him. Mikasa, Armin, and Jean maintained on their previous course, leading the Aberrants further into the forest and away from Levi. He panted lightly, watching the titans follow the others as he rode steadily away.

Levi was alone in the forest for maybe a moment before another titan came into view. Its eyes were trained on him, a sort of bleak annoyance nestled in the deep cesspools of disinterest. For a moment, Levi wondered where he'd seen that look before; that lack of emotion, that boredom, but it didn't take long for Levi to recognize those eyes as the eyes he saw in the mirror every morning. They looked like his own.

Levi didn't even stop his horse.

The reigns slipped out of the man's hands quickly as he pushed himself out of the saddle, thrusting his hips forward and activating his 3DMG mid-air. He flew towards the nearest tree branch, shoving the hilts of his twin swords into the receptacles holding his extra blades. He dragged them out quickly, shouting as he hit the branch on the left side of the titan. Levi tensed his legs, launching himself off the branch with a loud shout.

Levi's body straightened out and he flipped one of his blades, holding it underhand as he flew through the air. His green cloak flew out around him as he flipped into a spin, his legs bent slightly as his swords hit the back of the titan's neck full force.

The chunk of flesh at the titan's nape exploded outwards, a small spurt of blood hitting Levi's coat as he did a 360 degree turn midair and launched himself back onto his horse. It had been faithfully riding forwards, awaiting Levi's landing.

Levi didn't even wait to see the titan fall. He just rode onwards unflinchingly, even when the loud, earth-shaking crash of the titan's body hitting the earth echoed behind him.

He was heartless. He was emotionless. Nothing could stop him.

Or could there be?

Levi's gaze hardened as he urged the horse on, speeding up. He could hear Erwin ahead, barking orders at someone as they rode perpendicular to Levi's path. Doing some quick mental calculations, he deemed that if he shifted his course a mere sixteen degrees to the left, he would meet up with them in the clearing he'd seen on the map earlier. Levi huffed, gripping the reigns and leaning on the horse, tensing his left leg to change direction. Within moments, Levi spotted the clearing, watching the movements through the trees to the right converge on his position.

"WHERE THE FUCK IS-"

"Let's go," Levi interrupted, emerging from the trees and turning 45 degrees to the right, riding alongside Erwin as they met up.

"What took you so long?"

"I was... delayed," Levi answered, keeping his glare on the path ahead and ignoring Erwin's steely gaze.

"You only just made it. Come; we are going to get rid of those titans following Miss Ackerman's squad." Levi growled; just the mention of Mikasa Ackerman, an overprotective bitch who he happened to share his NAME with, made him want to kill something.

"Fine. We need to save Mr. Arlert's squad. Happy?" Erwin deadpanned.

"Am I ever?" Levi asked, sparing him a glance as he urged his horse to go even faster. He knew that his horse was nearly at its limit, however he couldn't help but encourage the horse to quicken its pace even more.

"No, I suppose not." Erwin chuckled lightly under his breath, angling his horse's direction away from Levi and towards Eren, who's chest was almost flush with his horse. The boy looked frightened, but also more resolute than he thought he'd ever seen him. A rush of pride seeped through Levi for Eren, but he wasn't entirely sure why.

Eren leaned back slightly as Erwin rode up beside him, shouting something incomprehensible to the young man. Levi watched with carefully veiled interest as Eren took in what Erwin was saying. He seemed completely at ease; his fear hidden behind the masking strength he'd been perfecting recently, but suddenly, everything changed.

Eren's eyes went wide and fear locked his limbs. Levi shouted at him to loosen up, but he doubted Eren heard him. The poor boy almost fell of his horse.

Shaking his head, Eren shouted something back at Erwin, and it took all of Levi's willpower to keep himself focused on the road. He had a deep urge to ride a little closer to Eren to hear what they were saying, but Levi knew that Erwin wouldn't appreciate the eavesdropping, no matter how it would ease his conscience.

Erwin rode back towards the middle of the formation and a little closer to Levi, who immediately looked away. He doubted Erwin would understand his stares; Levi wasn't known for concern. He wasn't even entirely sure why he was concerned. Sure, maybe he'd become a little attached to the brat's annoying, unresolved anger issues and his blatant respect for Levi; but that wasn't unusual. Going so far as to be concerned for him, however; now that wasn't exactly something he'd experienced before.

Levi tried to focus on leading his horse, but he found himself glancing over at Eren occasionally, watching him recover from... whatever it was that Erwin had told him. Eren's face was still in shock, but fear and pain had replaced it almost completely. He rode ahead, staring forwards at the road without ever appearing to want to look back.

That was probably why Levi was caught unawares when Eren suddenly shifted his gaze, turning to glance at Levi. The surprise on Eren's face in locking eyes with Levi mirrored his own, and he couldn't help the way his legs tensed on the horse's flanks.

Eren stared at Levi, not blinking or appearing to have any intention of looking away, so the man did the only thing he could.

Are you okay? - Levi mouthed to Eren, making small, short glances back at the road ahead. Eren nodded once, his lips pressed tightly together as he looked back at Erwin. He'd taken up the front, his green coat flowing behind him regally. Levi faced ahead as well and tried to ignore the pulsing in his limbs.

Levi felt uneasy. His body was tense, his brain on high alert, but since he'd left Arlert's squad less than five minutes ago, there hadn't been any sign of titans. Even the four Aberrants that had been following Arlert's squad had either disappeared or were just exceptionally good at masking their loud, booming footsteps. Levi assumed the former, as titans didn't appear to have the intelligence to learn to hide the consequences of their large, lumbering bodies. However, that only led to more confusion on Levi's part. Where had they gone, and why?

Suddenly, the silence in the forest was pierced like flash of lightning with Eren's earsplitting scream. Levi's eyes went wide and sweat beaded on the back of his neck as a swarm of titans rushed at them from the side. However, that wasn't the most worrisome thing to Levi.

Eren was shouting for help, his pleas attracting the attention of the rest of Erwin's men. He was suspended in the air, having been snatched off his horse. Levi felt a chill rush down his spine as he watched the titan raise Eren high into the air. The boy's arms were pinned at his sides by the titan's large, oddly shaped fingers, and Eren struggled uselessly in its iron grip.

"LEVI! HEICHOU! PLEASE, HELP ME!" he screamed, his eyes the size of dinner plates. Tears streamed down Eren's cheeks, and Levi immediately activated his 3DMG. He soared into the air, flying for the titan's neck with an Earth-shattering scream.

"LEVI! WA—" Levi didn't hear the rest of Erwin's sentence, the blood rushing to his ears as he soared through the air and towards the titan's exposed neck. He wasn't even sure why he was so angry; his blood boiled, his thinking process was compromised; everything. He wished he could control it, but it was... it was painful. The pain and fear clawing at his chest at the sight of Eren being held by that titan just made him angry.

So incredibly angry.

"EREN I'M COMING!" he screamed, and relief filled Eren's features. He smiled lightly, but he could tell it was forced.

"Please hurry!" Eren struggled harder, trying to release one of his arms so that he could reach his 3DMG swords while Levi soared towards the back of the titan's neck, his gas tank at full release capacity. He was less than a metre from the titan's neck, his blades in position, when something rammed into him from the side.

Levi's blood ran cold as his body flew away from the titan and he screamed. His blades fell limp in his palms as he plummeted towards the ground, tears flying out into the air before him. The soldier's body that had hit him crashed into a tree to the right, the rebound from hitting Levi and whacking her head into the tree killing the soldier instantly. She continued to fall, but Levi wasn't watching her.

He was watching the titan that held Eren.

Watching it notice that it still held a human in its palm.

And watching it begin to squeeze.

No. Please, no.

Levi tried to restart his 3DMG, but it wasn't working. When he'd hit the dead soldier, it had thrown out one of the cords, rendering the equipment useless. He struggled, crying and screaming, as he watched the titan squeeze the life out of the man he'd sworn to protect.

The man he wanted to protect.

"EREN!" he shrieked, his voice torn with emotion. Erwin flew towards Eren and the titan, his 3DMG gear whistling as he cut the back of the titan's neck. He soared down, killing another two titans before racing towards Levi's still falling form.

Eren dropped from the titan's now slack hold, his body hitting the ground with a crash. Levi hit a tree at about the same time, the 3DMG gear behind him cushioning his fall a meager amount, but he still felt the wind knocked out of him. However, he didn't wait a moment. As soon as he caught his breath, Levi stood, jumping off the branch and catching Erwin's arm as he soared past.

"Levi! ARE YOU HURT?!" he shouted into the wind, his voice hard. Levi shook his head, not trusting his voice.

"Why are you crying?!" Levi squeezed his eyes shut, hot tears streaming from his swollen eyes. He breathed in deeply, his voice shaky before he spoke.

"How could you let him fall?" Levi's voice turned deadly, his eyes narrowing as he made eye contact with Erwin.

"W-What?!" Erwin was dumbfounded.

"How could you let Eren fall?" Tears streamed down Levi's cheeks and he bit his lip, sobbing.

"L-Levi..." Erwin breathed. He closed his eyes slighting, wincing as he uttered his next words.

"He's gone."

And with that, Erwin released Levi's arm, sending him sprawling to the ground. He groaned, standing quickly and running over to where Eren's body lay.

Conny and Krista stood over Eren's unmoving form, and Levi ran as fast has he possibly could, falling to his knees next to his body. The titans had all been vanquished in the surrounding area, and even if they hadn't Levi wouldn't have cared. All he cared about was making sure that Eren was alright.

"Eren. Eren, please! TALK TO ME!" he screamed, gripping his arm. Eren didn't move, his body slathered in his own blood. Not to mention the fact that his entire body had been crushed, his arms bent as weird angles and his abdomen crumpled like a tin can.

"Do you see-"

"Levi-"

"His face..."

"What the fuck?"

"He's crying???"

Levi forced out the voices from the people around him, focusing only on Eren's face. Waiting. Begging.

"He's dead. Levi, we need to leave." It was Erwin's voice. According to protocol, Erwin had likely been making the rounds to ascertain the absence of any more titans, but those could still be flawed. They needed to get out of there.

"LEVI!"

"L... le... le—va—iiii..." Eren moaned. Levi's eyes went wide, and he leaned close to Eren's mouth.

"Eren! Eren, please... talk to me..." New tears fell from Levi's eyes and he smiled a relieved smile. It felt like his heart was pulling itself apart, but like it was being mended as well.

"C-co... come clo... ser..." Eren said, lifting his right arm slowly and gradually. He rested his palm on Levi's face as he bent over Eren's body, Levi's hands cradling Eren's broken one. Levi pressed his cheek into Eren's hand, his body shaking as he closed his eyes and cried into his hand.

"Levi... I... I'm done for... please..." Levi didn't even try to argue, because he knew it would be pointless. Eren WAS done for. He only had a few moments left to live, and he decided to spend them talking to Levi.

His brain knew that, and had understood it.

But his heart never could.

"E-Eren, I think... I think..." Eren smiled painfully.

"Le... leh...vi...I ju *hack* I ju...st thou...hht... you shoul...no..." He gulped the blood that had filled his mouth.

"I... I think I... I think I love you..." Eren managed, and he smiled up at Levi one more time before his hand went limp. Eren's head rolled to the side, his eyes unfocused and blank as he expired, and Levi felt his heart jump into his throat.

Levi released Eren's hand, laying it against his chest in the traditional salute as he ripped the patch off his coat. He got up partially, but before he could get up completely, Levi leaned over Eren's body and delivered a small kiss onto his brow, closing Eren's eyes as a sign of respect.

"Eren, I know it's a little... *choke* a little late for me to be saying this, but... I just thought you should know." He whispered in Eren's ear, tears falling onto Eren's ears as he finally told Eren the truth. The truth he'd only realized just before he got hit by that soldier.

Levi stood, turning away from Eren's body and tucking the small patch into his pocket, the memory of his last farewell ringing through his ears for years to come.

"Eren, I know it's a little late for me to be saying this, but I thought you should know..."

"I will never stop loving you."

Fin.


End file.
